A quick short guide on how to successfully play in a Support class. I never would've started playing this class if I didn't notice the shortage of support players vs the number of ammo calls, and thought, what a great way to earn points! Yes, I was a selfish little peon thinking of new ways to stat pad, but being support isn't about padding, especially now that the patch has somewhat fixed it.
Anyway, down to business.
Your LMG:
This is a powerful, powerful tool if you know how and when to use it. I'm going to treat all the LMGs the same as I personally feel little difference until you reach the unlockable PKM. There are 3 main uses for this weapon: CQC surprise assault, medium to long range nailing and distracting cover fire.
CQC Surprise Assault:
I'm sure many of you have jumped into a situation with 4-6 enemies, taken down maybe 1 or 2 and realized, 'shit, i need ammo' and you pretty much are doomed before you even press 'R'. Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to worry at all about reloading in this case? Oh wait, you can! Be support! If you have at least 60 bullets you can take down pretty much any number of people in a small area at once, as long as you have some element of surprise with you. Not a lot, but enough to get your first few sprays in. Say you turn a corner to get to the red cluster on your UAV signals, and you have the first few milliseconds to shoot. Jump first, then go prone. Roll into it. Of course, be firing all the time, if you're good enough you needn't worry about heat. Once flat start aiming at one person at a time. Bringing 5 people down to 5% with 475 damage doesn't do much for you because there are still five guns pointed at your head. However, if you take down four people, one at a time, with that 475 damage, you've only got 1 gun at your head, making your chances much, much better. Remember, you've got armor. Quite often, after enough practice or so, you'll make it out with at least 20% health left, and this is where you retreat for a medic. When you drop prone however, be aware that you're a sitting duck so jump up and bunny hop every few seconds.
Medium to Longe Range Nailing:
Forget the jumping this time, just go straight prone and nail the guy with a few torso shots or so, depending on which LMG you're using. Use your sights, as the crossshairs really spread out with sustained fire. You have no time to stop and make bursts. Just go for it. You can easily pin down someone less than 50 yards away as long as they're in a straight line. Don't try and mow down more than two or three people, because your enemies aren't always that stupid. When you come close to one person, and he's got somethnig pretty darn good like a G36C, don't run away. That'll just make him pelt you down with a few 5.56's to your ass. Two on the left cheek, one on the right. Butt seriously (har har) you want to hit him when he can't hit you. Start hopping backwards, back off, and hope he doesn't come close, but rather stay or even back off himself. Constantly fire, but only in bursts, only fire to make the illusion that you're trying to kill him. This'll make your opponent think "Ha, he can't even hit me, what a noob", but remember to keep your heat down. Because once he runs out of ammo, drop prone and let loose your fury in the form of bullets. If you're too close, the moment you drop prone a good player will also join you like he would join his partner in intercourse, except with a knife in hand instead of... yeah.
Distracting Cover Fire:
Let's face it. You absolutely cannot take down a sniper on a crane with your LMG unless you're lucky or you're cheating. Or you're as good as I am, but you aren't so it's gotta be one of the former. Hehe. Anyway, you could try taking him down with your trusty pistol (never underestimate this piece of ordinance), or you could provide cover for your friends to dash by. Think about it; if you were a sniper, and suddenly you see bullets whizzing by and a bunch of 'ting' 'psss' and dust flying, you start to back off, giving the enemy time to advance. Or say there's some annoying guy L85'ing your squad head by head, keep him at bay with a fury of seemingly never ending bullets to the corner. Then, pause for a mo, let your heat cool, and run up to the corner. He'll think you're reloading, and start to come out again, but this time you jump over him or next to him, and... you should know by now what to do. Don't bother with your knife or your pistol. Just finish the job and rejoin your team members.
Enough about LMG tactics, howabout some ammo baggin'?
Ammo Bags
Now, you're looking for points and they're looking for ammo. This ammo bag is your matchmaker. Look for anti-tankers, medics (I don't know why, but medics seem to throw the most grenades ), assault players and engineers. Anti-tankers use rockets very fast and appreciate having your few ammo bags tossed. Medics, as explained, seem to have the tendency to throw grenades more than any other class. Similar with assault players, they choose assault for the underbarrel grenade launcher. Well, at least I do. They also like to toss smokes, which they have only one of, and you can supply them with more. Engineers are once again usually picked for one reason: Repairing things, but more likely, AT mines. Give them the ammo they need. Ammo bags only take affect when they've used a clip, so normal players don't quite need them. Players with one-shot weapons such as rockets, mines, and grenades are who you want to target. Don't bother supplying a SpecOps with ammo after they've placed C4, because chances are they're running like hell, and will end up teamkilling you from the massive explosion.
When you do find someone to let loose your bags of sugary goodness, make sure to dump more than one before you go off in another direciton. They'll use one bag in due time, but they'll need more for the future. And remember, you don't have to throw out bags to big groups of teammates to get points. Keep a bag in hand, stop throwing when you have 2 more bags left to throw. Chuck another when you have 3. This way you don't spam the chat with "Ammo, Here!", leaving room for more important messages like "zOMG 2 TANKS @ MRKET!!!111~", no matter how stupid and incoherent they may be. Only expend your last two or so bags before you leave the area, and give your ammo supply time to reload itself.... kind of weird wording there, but you know what I'm trying to say.
Nade Whoring
Remember, you are support, meaning you never, absolutely never, have to worry about ammunition. Your magic little satchels give you unlimited grenades. So nade whore when you can, just make sure you're not teamkilling. Perch yourself in a safe spot, chuck nades about, refill yourself when necessary. Refill fellow nade whores too, so they may continue their rampage of flying explosive balls. But even though you have unlimited grenades, don't even think about nading an APC or tank. It still takes a shitload of grenades to get that thing smoking, and you may have the grenades but no one has the patience.
That's it for this guide on playing support.
So much for quick and short....meh. But remember, your team needs ammo!
Anyway, down to business.
Your LMG:
This is a powerful, powerful tool if you know how and when to use it. I'm going to treat all the LMGs the same as I personally feel little difference until you reach the unlockable PKM. There are 3 main uses for this weapon: CQC surprise assault, medium to long range nailing and distracting cover fire.
CQC Surprise Assault:
I'm sure many of you have jumped into a situation with 4-6 enemies, taken down maybe 1 or 2 and realized, 'shit, i need ammo' and you pretty much are doomed before you even press 'R'. Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to worry at all about reloading in this case? Oh wait, you can! Be support! If you have at least 60 bullets you can take down pretty much any number of people in a small area at once, as long as you have some element of surprise with you. Not a lot, but enough to get your first few sprays in. Say you turn a corner to get to the red cluster on your UAV signals, and you have the first few milliseconds to shoot. Jump first, then go prone. Roll into it. Of course, be firing all the time, if you're good enough you needn't worry about heat. Once flat start aiming at one person at a time. Bringing 5 people down to 5% with 475 damage doesn't do much for you because there are still five guns pointed at your head. However, if you take down four people, one at a time, with that 475 damage, you've only got 1 gun at your head, making your chances much, much better. Remember, you've got armor. Quite often, after enough practice or so, you'll make it out with at least 20% health left, and this is where you retreat for a medic. When you drop prone however, be aware that you're a sitting duck so jump up and bunny hop every few seconds.
Medium to Longe Range Nailing:
Forget the jumping this time, just go straight prone and nail the guy with a few torso shots or so, depending on which LMG you're using. Use your sights, as the crossshairs really spread out with sustained fire. You have no time to stop and make bursts. Just go for it. You can easily pin down someone less than 50 yards away as long as they're in a straight line. Don't try and mow down more than two or three people, because your enemies aren't always that stupid. When you come close to one person, and he's got somethnig pretty darn good like a G36C, don't run away. That'll just make him pelt you down with a few 5.56's to your ass. Two on the left cheek, one on the right. Butt seriously (har har) you want to hit him when he can't hit you. Start hopping backwards, back off, and hope he doesn't come close, but rather stay or even back off himself. Constantly fire, but only in bursts, only fire to make the illusion that you're trying to kill him. This'll make your opponent think "Ha, he can't even hit me, what a noob", but remember to keep your heat down. Because once he runs out of ammo, drop prone and let loose your fury in the form of bullets. If you're too close, the moment you drop prone a good player will also join you like he would join his partner in intercourse, except with a knife in hand instead of... yeah.
Distracting Cover Fire:
Let's face it. You absolutely cannot take down a sniper on a crane with your LMG unless you're lucky or you're cheating. Or you're as good as I am, but you aren't so it's gotta be one of the former. Hehe. Anyway, you could try taking him down with your trusty pistol (never underestimate this piece of ordinance), or you could provide cover for your friends to dash by. Think about it; if you were a sniper, and suddenly you see bullets whizzing by and a bunch of 'ting' 'psss' and dust flying, you start to back off, giving the enemy time to advance. Or say there's some annoying guy L85'ing your squad head by head, keep him at bay with a fury of seemingly never ending bullets to the corner. Then, pause for a mo, let your heat cool, and run up to the corner. He'll think you're reloading, and start to come out again, but this time you jump over him or next to him, and... you should know by now what to do. Don't bother with your knife or your pistol. Just finish the job and rejoin your team members.
Enough about LMG tactics, howabout some ammo baggin'?
Ammo Bags
Now, you're looking for points and they're looking for ammo. This ammo bag is your matchmaker. Look for anti-tankers, medics (I don't know why, but medics seem to throw the most grenades ), assault players and engineers. Anti-tankers use rockets very fast and appreciate having your few ammo bags tossed. Medics, as explained, seem to have the tendency to throw grenades more than any other class. Similar with assault players, they choose assault for the underbarrel grenade launcher. Well, at least I do. They also like to toss smokes, which they have only one of, and you can supply them with more. Engineers are once again usually picked for one reason: Repairing things, but more likely, AT mines. Give them the ammo they need. Ammo bags only take affect when they've used a clip, so normal players don't quite need them. Players with one-shot weapons such as rockets, mines, and grenades are who you want to target. Don't bother supplying a SpecOps with ammo after they've placed C4, because chances are they're running like hell, and will end up teamkilling you from the massive explosion.
When you do find someone to let loose your bags of sugary goodness, make sure to dump more than one before you go off in another direciton. They'll use one bag in due time, but they'll need more for the future. And remember, you don't have to throw out bags to big groups of teammates to get points. Keep a bag in hand, stop throwing when you have 2 more bags left to throw. Chuck another when you have 3. This way you don't spam the chat with "Ammo, Here!", leaving room for more important messages like "zOMG 2 TANKS @ MRKET!!!111~", no matter how stupid and incoherent they may be. Only expend your last two or so bags before you leave the area, and give your ammo supply time to reload itself.... kind of weird wording there, but you know what I'm trying to say.
Nade Whoring
Remember, you are support, meaning you never, absolutely never, have to worry about ammunition. Your magic little satchels give you unlimited grenades. So nade whore when you can, just make sure you're not teamkilling. Perch yourself in a safe spot, chuck nades about, refill yourself when necessary. Refill fellow nade whores too, so they may continue their rampage of flying explosive balls. But even though you have unlimited grenades, don't even think about nading an APC or tank. It still takes a shitload of grenades to get that thing smoking, and you may have the grenades but no one has the patience.
That's it for this guide on playing support.
So much for quick and short....meh. But remember, your team needs ammo!